Gold Coast Blaze load up

The other big mover and shaker so far this NBL off-season has been the Gold Coast Blaze. They took huge strides forward last season but weren't content with their semi-final finish and have definitely shaken things up again.

(Click on the links below to read the full story on each signing)

1. First they signed veteran forward Stephen Hoare.
   
2. They then brought in some youth and rebounding with Tom Garlepp.
3. Their biggest move was bringing in former Breakers centre Rick Rickert as a naturalised Kiwi so he will no longer be classed as an import.
   
4. They then signed Bennett Davison, former Tigers import who was a stand-out at the High Stakes Hoops tournament.
5. And finally (for now), they signed future star Jason Cadee.
   

The 2010/2011 NBL season is still a number of months away but the Gold Coast Blaze are showing they're serious about making a run at the title. It'll be interesting to see what other moves they make and what type of player they bring in as their second import.

NBL wrap - round 19

I hope everyone enjoyed the Australia Day long weekend. That's my excuse for not posting over the last few days.

Here are the numbers that matter from round 19 in the NBL:

36ers 110 Blaze 88

For the 36ers:

Adam Ballinger 28 points, 12 boards
Luke Schenscher 16 points, 10 boards
Brett Maher 17 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists

For the Blaze:

Luke Whitehead 21 points, 19 boards, 8 assists
Justin Bowen 18 points, 7 boards
Scott McGregor 8 points, 7 boards (in just 12 minutes)

The Blaze actually have a good recent record over the 36ers but Adelaide turned up ready to play and took control with a 30 - 13 first quarter. Adelaide shot 55% from the field while the Blaze were just 40%. Shane Heal and James Harvey combined for just 2 of 13 from the field. Luke Whitehead is putting up large, large numbers over the last 6 weeks.

Tigers 103 Breakers 85

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 22 points, 6 boards, 3 steals
Chris Anstey 16 points, 13 boards, 4 assists
Daryl Corletto 15 points (7 of 9 shooting), 4 boards (in just 16 minutes)

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 28 points (12 of 18 shooting), 4 boards
Rick Rickert 15 points, 8 boards
Tony Ronaldson 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists

The Tigers dominated the second half 56 - 37 to secure the win. The Breakers got to the free-throw line just 10 times during the game and were an uncharacteristically poor 5 of 17 from downtown. Tigers won the boards 49 to 35. CJ Bruton returned to the bench ... obviously he's nowhere near 100% since coming back from injury.

Wildcats 96 Blaze 90

For the Wildcats:

Alex Loughton 18 points
Shawn Redhage 16 points, 6 boards
Darnell Hinson 15 points, 6 boards, 6 assists

For the Blaze:

Justin Bowen 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists
Luke Whitehead 16 points, 15 boards
Pero Cameron 10 points, 9 boards, 7 assists

A good effort from the Blaze to keep this close, but they were well rested after they failed to show up for the 36ers game. Both teams shot just over 40% from the field and struggled from the line but the Wildcats had just FOUR turnovers for the entire game. Ugly final quarter with the teams combining for 25 points total (14 for the Wildcats, 11 for the Blaze).

Tigers 95 Breakers 89

For the Tigers:

Chris Anstey 20 points, 11 boards, 4 steals, 3 blocks
Ebi Ere 14 points, 6 boards
Nathan Crosswell 14 points (7 of 10 from the field)

For the Breakers:

CJ Bruton 29 points (including 5 triples and 8 of 8 from the line)
Kirk Penney 23 points, 5 boards
Rick Rickert 11 points, 6 boards

These teams matched up twice in the space of 48 hours, once in NZ and once in Melbourne, the Tigers got both wins tho. CJ Bruton back in the starting line-up and back in form. Tigers came from behind in the second half 50 - 38 to get the win. Both teams shot just over 40% but the Tigers had just 11 turnovers to the Breakers 19.

Crocs 97 Hawks 95

For the Crocs:

Rosell Ellis 25 points, 11 boards, 4 assists
Kelvin Robertson 20 points (including 4 triples), 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals
Brad Williamson 15 points, 5 boards

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 27 points, 6 boards
Kavossy Franklin 19 points (6 of 9 from the field, 6 of 6 from the line), 8 assists, 5 boards
Glen Saville 17 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals

Crocs come from behind 26 - 16 in the final quarter to get the win thanks to two late buckets from Rosell Ellis. Crocs got the win on the road despite being without leading scorer Corey Williams.

Taipans 89 Spirit 83

For the Taipans:

Ian Crosswhite 27 points (11 of 15 from the field), 11 boards, 4 steals
Martin Cattalini 15 points
Aaron Grabeau 11 points, 6 boards

For the Spirit:

Jason Smith 19 points, 7 boards
David Gruber 14 points (6 of 8 from the field), 7 boards
Matthew Knight 14 points, 6 boards, 3 steals

Cairns could've won by a lot more but shot just 20 of 34 from the line and had 25 turnovers. Sydney shot just 38% from the field. MASSIVE game from Crosswhite! Sydney running out of steam at the wrong end of the season.

At the end of round 19, the Dragons are still in first but the Tigers move in to 2nd on a 6 game winning streak. The Breakers fall to 3rd (won 1 of their last 5) and the Crocs are in 4th. Blaze still on the bottom, Hawks are now second last.

Adam Ballinger (our Shooter of the Month in November) was named player of the week thanks to his impressive performance in Adelaide's win against the Blaze. Ballinger had 21 points in the first half to put the game to bed before half-time.

Now to our Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The dishonourable mentions go to Oscar Forman from the Breakers (for scoring just 7 points total in two losses to the Melbourne Tigers) and Blagov Janev of the Spirit (1 of 7 in a loss to the Taipans). The award goes to one time shooter of the week, James Harvey for hitting just 1 of 8 and doing virtually nothing else in 26 minutes of court time in an horrible loss to the 36ers.

And finally, as always our Shooter of the Week is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. The runner up this week goes to CJ Bruton from the Breakers for his 29 points, 8 of 14 from the field, 5 of 10 from deep and 8 of 8 from the line in a loss to the Tigers. The winner of the award is none other than Adam Ballinger (pictured right) for his 28 points, 9 of 14 from the field, 4 of 5 from deep and 6 of 6 from the line, as well as 12 boards in his team's win over the Blaze. Ballinger has continued his hot form in November and is now definitely the focus of the Adelaide attack.

NBL wrap - round 16

Believe it or not, I'm STILL waiting for the videos from the Blaze to properly upload. Its been 36 hours and still no luck ... groan ...

Here are the numbers that matter from round 16 of the NBL:

Hawks 112 Taipans 105

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 28 points (12 of 16 from the field), 9 boards
Glen Saville 20 points, 6 boards, 6 assists
Dusty Rychart 17 points, 9 boards

For the Taipans:

Ian Crosswhite 27 points, 11 boards
Darnell Mee 14 points, 6 boards, 7 assists
Martin Cattalini 16 points, 5 boards

The Hawks shot an impressive 59% from the field while Cairns weren't too far behind at 48%. My guess is there wasn't too much defence being played. Cairns shot just 13 of 24 from the line. Is that a career high boards for Tragradh??

Blaze 103 36ers 94

For the Blaze:

Justin Bowen 35 points, 8 boards, 8 steals
Luke Whitehead 23 points, 17 boards, 4 assists
James Harvey 17 points

For the 36ers:

Julius Hodge 29 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals
Jacob Holmes 18 points, 9 boards
Adam Ballinger 15 points, 7 boards

Adelaide have been strong lately so this win for the Blaze definitely came as a surprise. The foul count favoured the Blaze 27 - 17 and from it they had almost 3 times as many trips to the lines as the 36ers. Bowen was awful last week so not a surprise to see him bounce back strong ... he's inconsistent to say the least. The lack of numbers from Schenscher seems to have cost Adelaide.

Crocs 105 Dragons 95

For the Crocs:

Rosell Ellis 19 points (8 of 8 from the field), 11 boards
Brad Williamson 16 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists
Corey Williams 15 points, 5 assists

For the Dragons:

Donta Smith 14 points, 5 boards
Adam Gibson 13 points, 4 assists
Tremell Darden 11 points, 9 boards

Mark Worthington shot just 1 of 8 from the field and had a game high 4 turnovers. Crocs dominated the second quarter 28 - 13 to set up the win. Balanced scoring from the Dragons with 6 players in double figures but no one scored more than 14. Dragons shot just 6 of 24 from deep.

Hawks 111 Breakers 94

For the Hawks:

Kavossy Franklin 26 points, 7 boards, 4 assists
Dusty Rychart 16 points, 13 boards
Glen Saville 13 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 30 points, 5 boards
Rick Rickert 15 points, 12 boards, 4 assists
Oscar Forman 17 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards

No CJ Bruton for the Breakers and they are a different team without him running the show. Ronaldson and Phull Jones combined for just 4 of 20 shooting. After losing 8 straight, this upset takes the Hawks to 3 wins in a row.

Spirit 86 Breakers 85

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 18 points, 8 boards
Jason Smith 16 points, 6 boards, 5 assists
Drew Williamson 12 points, 5 boards, 4 assists

For the Breakers:

Rick Rickert 19 points, 10 boards
Kirk Penney 23 points but 8 turnovers
Oscar Forman 10 points, 7 boards

Breakers were better from the field than the last game but were just 14 of 21 from the line, not good for them. Again, struggled badly without CJ Bruton and had to back up the next night after their loss to the Hawks. Sydney controlled the boards 46 - 33.

Wildcats 99 Dragons 90

For the Wildcats:

Isiah Victor 25 points, 12 boards
Darnell Hinson 17 points, 12 boards
Shawn Redhage 15 points, 9 boards, 6 assists

For the Dragons:

Tremmell Darden 19 points
Mark Worthington 16 points, 7 boards
Adam Gibson 16 points, 4 boards, 3 assists

Wildcats shot 48% (Dragons 38%) from the field and 50 rebounds (Dragons 37). Victor should've had 30 points but shot just 6 of 14 from the line. Strangely, Wildcats had twice as many turnovers (20 - 9) but still controlled the game.

Crocs 105 Blaze 88

For the Crocs:

Corey Williams 25 points, 5 boards
Cameron Tovey 17 points, 10 boards
Rosell Ellis 17 points, 9 boards

For the Blaze:

James Harvey 27 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards
Justin Bowen 16 points, 6 boards
Luke Whitehead 14 points, 12 boards but 9 turnovers

For the recap of the game, check out my last post here.

Not a good week for the teams at the top of the NBL ladder with both the Dragons and the Breakers losing 2 from 2. Dragons are still 1st and Breakers are 2 wins behind in 2nd with the Tigers and Wildcats not far behind. Blaze got a win but their still 2 behind the Taipans.

The Player of the Week went to Isiah Victor for his dominant performance off the bench to lead his team to a win against the league-leading Dragons. His full line was: 25 points, 9 of 16 from the field, 1 of 4 from downtown and 6 of 14 from the line, 12 boards, 4 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block. Victor has really stepped up his game over the last month but he won't be getting our Shooter of the Week award with free-throw shooting like that!

Now to our Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. There are a few honourable mentions as always. Mark Worthington from the Dragons (1 of 8, 4 turnovers in a loss to the Crocs), Tony Ronaldson and Phull Jones from the Breakers (both shot 2 of 10 from the field in a loss to the Hawks). The winner this week is Joe Ingles (pictured below) from Dragons for going M.I.A (missing in action) in his team's two losses over the weekend. He averaged just 5.5 points (on 26% shooting), 3.5 boards, 2 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game. Far from good enough when you're a young star in the league with supposed hopes of wowing NBA scouts.

There weren't any "outstanding" basketball shooting displays in the league this week ... other than Rosell Ellis' 8 of 8 from the field. If you've seen Rosell shoot a free-throw, you'll know why I can't give him the award. So we'll respect the integrity and the honour of the Shooter of the Week title and hold off until next round.

Have you seen this man? He failed to show up for the Dragons on the weekend and we NEED to talk to him about that horrible shooting form.

How not to make the team ...

(How not to make the team) ... get in a fight with the team's star player. I heard about Rick Rickert's melee with Kevin Garnett a little while ago but JR had a post to this article on his blog and now that Rickert's playing well in the NBL I thought it was worth posting. Click on the title to read the entire article.

Basketball: US import ups the intensity - 19 Oct 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand and International Sports News

Basketball: US import ups the intensity
4:00AM Sunday Oct 19, 2008
By Dylan Cleaver

If you're going to get into a fight, you might as well start at the top. That's what Breakers import Rick Rickert did when he was picked up by his home state Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2003 draft. In a pick-up game, he and Kevin Garnett, the Kevin Garnett, had a tete-a-tete that effectively ended Rickert's meaningful involvement with the team. Garnett, perhaps the most respected player in the NBA, went on to win the championship with the Boston Celtics this year, in the process reviving the sport's most successful, yet flat-lining franchise.

When I was looking for a decent pick of Rick Rickert, I stumbled across this site. Is that REALLY his wife?? HOT

NBL wrap - round 5

I know I seemingly went missing for a few days ... 4 or 5 days without posting, what's going on?? Ha ha ha, nothing serious, honestly. I had a massive weekend and just haven't had a chance. The weekend started on Thursday night with my regular APL poker game, Friday night I got an invite to a corporate at the QLD Roar, Saturday night I had a friend's 30th and then Sunday was spent playing in a State poker tournament.

Anyway, down to business and round 5 of the NBL season ...

Perth Wildcats 89 Wollongong Hawks 77

For Perth:
Alex Loughton 21 points (9 of 13 from the field)
Shawn Redhage 20 points, 8 boards, 4 assists
Stephen Weigh 15 points, 8 boards

For Wollongong:
Anthony Petrie 24 points 8 boards
Dusty Rychart 10 points, 7 boards

It really looks like the Hawks just failed to show up for this game. Glen Saville, Kavossy Franklin and Cameron Tragardh combined shot just 9 of 29 from the field.

NZ Breakers 120 Gold Coast Blaze 108

For NZ:
Kirk Penney 29 points (including 15 of 16 from the line)
Rick Rickert 22 points (9 of 12 from the field), 6 boards
Phill Jones 21 points (6 of 8 shooting, including 4 triples)
CJ Bruton 22 points, 8 assists, 7 boards

For GC:
Shane Heal 23 points, 7 assists
Luke Whitehead 22 points, 6 boards, 5 assists
James Harvey 17 points (including 5 triples)

Not too much D played in this one with both teams shooting around 50% from the field. The game was close for most of it but NZ pulled away when it mattered.

Wollongong Hawks 105 Adelaide 36'ers 95

For Wollongong:
Kavossy Franklin 24 points, 6 boards, 4 assists
Dusty Rychart 16 points, 12 boards
Glen Saville 14 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals

For Adelaide:
Mark Tyndale 18 points, 8 assists, 6 boards
Adam Ballinger 17 points (7 of 9 from the field), 6 boards

Welcome back Kavossy! After a very slow start this is the sort of output the Hawks expect from him. Balanced performance from the Hawks, Adelaide started strongly but couldn't finish it off. Brett Maher continues to struggle for Adelaide ... 2 of 10 from the field.

South Dragons 106 Sydney Spirit 101

For the Dragons:
Tremmell Darden 22 points, 8 boards, 4 assists
Nick Horvath 17 points, 8 boards
Joe Ingles 17 points

For the Spirit:
Derrick Low 32 points (including 7 triples)
Julian Khazzouh 15 points, 11 boards

Sydney charged home in this one (outscoring the Dragons 23 - 14 in the final quarter) but it was too little too late.

Perth Wildcats 107 Townsville Crocodiles 93

For Perth:
Darnell Hinson 10 points, 10 boards, 9 assists
Shawn Redhage 15 points, 7 assists, 6 boards
Ben Knight 17 points, 5 boards

For Townsville:
Rossel Ellis 21 points (10 of 15 from the field), 10 boards
Homicide Williams 20 points, 4 assists ... 6 turnovers
Russell Hinder 16 points, 11 boards

13 days (the break between games that the Crocs had) is a long time in sport. 13 days ago they beat Perth by 17 and now they lose by 14. EIGHT Wildcats scored in double figures in a very balanced team performance. Apparently Perth's physical style of play knocked the Crocs off their game.

South Dragons 108 Melbourne Tigers 80

For the Dragons:
Joe Ingles 26 points, 9 boards, 8 assists, 4 steals
Tremmell Darden 18 points, 8 boards
Nick Horvath 17 points

For the Tigers:
Chris Anstey 27 points, 11 boards, 4 blocks
Sam Mackinnon 9 points, 8 boards,

Massive game from Joe Ingles, John Rillie said in his latest podcast that the game would be decided by the match up of Joe and Rod Gizzard. Joe wins hands down and so do the Dragons. Tigers shot just 32% from the field (without Anstey, they shot just 27%) and 17% from downtown. Its disappointing that this wasn't closer because there was a fantastic crowd of over 9300 on hand to see the local derby.

Cairns Taipans 102 Gold Coast Blaze 87

For Cairns:
Larry Abney 19 points, 7 boards
Stephen Black 18 points
Martin Cattalini 17 points, 7 boards

For GC:
Greg Vanderjagt 17 points, 8 boards
James Harvey 18 points

Cairns were too good and the Blaze continue to stink it up (0 of 7 so far this season) ... enough said.

For his outstanding performance in what should have been the game of the round, Joe Ingles was yesterday named player of the week.

For raining in 7 triples, our Shooter of the Week award goes to Derrick Low (below) from the Spirit. Considering no one is going to their games, I wasn't surprised that I couldn't find any action shots of him in the NBL. Nice shooting form in this photo tho.